Unions Act To Defend Leeds City College Nurseries

4 Apr 2014

LEEDS UNION MEETING ON MONDAY 7TH APRIL TO STEP UP CAMPAIGN TO KEEP OPEN THREE LEEDS CITY COLLEGE NURSERIES FACING CLOSURE

The College says the nurseries with 36 jobs are not fully used and making losses so test in big city like Leeds is to get these important assets fully used and the losses eliminated says GMB.
GMB and UNISON have organized a meeting from 5pm on Monday 7th April Leeds Civic Hall to step up a campaign to shelve proposals by Leeds City College to close three nurseries catering for students with children.

Union members and students who would be affected by closure have been invited to discuss what steps to take next in the fight to save jobs and stop the three nurseries closing.
The unions have written jointly to Peter Roberts, Principal and Chief Executive of Leeds City College to say they will do “whatever is necessary” to support their members’ fight to safeguard their jobs and the service they provide.” Rachel Dix, GMB Regional Organiser, said “These nurseries are an important asset and the staffs are very experienced and it would be a terrible waste of established nurseries to simply close them.

GMB believe there should be proper, detailed consultation on this issue so that a viable way of running them can be drawn up. At the moment it looks like the management, in isolation, have already decided on closure. If the plans go ahead, 36 trained nursery staff would lose their jobs and students at the college would struggle to find alternative nurseries for their children.
The College says the nurseries are not being used to full capacity and are running at a loss. What is needed is a plan to get them fully used and eliminate the losses. In a city the size of Leeds this challenge should not be impossible.”

Dean Harper, UNISON Regional Organiser, said “We argue that there has not been enough proper consultation with ourselves and with the students at Leeds City College who rely on the nurseries to pursue their studies. Given all the recent coverage of a crisis in nursery provision which has a negative effect on the economy, we feel confident that these nurseries could have a viable future in the city if their spare capacity was made available more widely.”